Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as drones, are used in various applications, such as monitor locations. For example, drones may be deployed to monitor an area from high above, giving a bird's eye view of the area, and drones may also be deployed into confined areas, such as buildings, for reconnaissance missions, surveying, and the like. Typically, a drone includes one or more propulsion systems, such as one or more motors having propeller blades attached thereto, for providing thrust to maintain flight and move to different locations.
Some drones, such as relatively small drones, may not be usable in certain applications because the drones are not able to carry certain devices onboard, such as sensors, laser emitters, cameras, audio devices, etc. The drones may not be able to carry the devices due to limited available space onboard and/or due to limited power capability of the propulsion system, which restricts the weight of the drone's payload. For example, even if a given drone is able to accommodate an extra laser emitting device onboard, the additional weight may significantly diminish the energy efficiency of the drone, reducing the flight duration before additional energy (e.g., a substituted or recharged battery) is required. Larger drones with greater power capabilities may be able to carry more devices, but these larger drones may not be able to navigate within confined spaces, which limits the applicability of the larger drones for certain tasks. The larger drones may also have greater costs and greater energy consumption than the smaller drones.